Device for forming ornamental structures.



No. 766,595. PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904. L. B. CHRISTOPHERSON.

DEVICE FOR FORMING ORNAMENTAL STRUCTURES.

APPLICATION FILED MAB. 9. 1904.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES LOUIS B. OHRISTOPHERSON,

Patented August 2, 1904.

OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA.

DEVICE FOR FORMING ORNAMENTAL STRUCTURES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,595, dated A g 2, 1904.

Application filed March 9, 1904. Serial No. 197,386. (No model.)

To ft It'll/07w it 'H'MI/y concern:

Be it known that 1, Louis B. CHRISTOPHER- soy, a citizen of the United States. residing at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Forming Ornamental Structures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for forming ornamental structures, as portieres or other grillework. It is also applicable for uses other than ornamental.

The objects of my invention are, first, to expand the material as much as possible, both in its own plane and transversely thereto; secondly, to produce as great a variety as possible of curves and of surfaces of curvature; thirdly, to provide a construction which shall be strong and durable, and therefore of especial value for material not adapted to withstand heavy strains, as thin leather or fabrics woven; fourthly, to provide a construction whereby from the plane blank a design of double curvature may be produced showing from the front comparatively few raw edges, thereby rendering it :ulaptalole for woven fabrics, as silk or cloth; iifthly, from such plane blank to provide a design of double curvature in which the pattern of the unit shall be broad and striking in appearance when viewed at a distance.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a piece of grillework constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a blank from which one of the units of the grillework is formed. Fig. 3is a section on the line A A of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a section on the line B B of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view of a blank illustrating my invention in its simplest form. Fig. 6 is a side view of the unit formed therefrom without the side twist. Fig. 7 is a similar view of the unit formed therefrom with the side twist as in the main illustration of my invention in Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a view of a blank slightly modified from Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a blank, of any material that can be bent suitable for ornamental or other purposes. Such material may be easily flexible, as leather or silk, or it may be thin wrought-iron or other thin metal. Said blank is of a general square form, having the opposite corners 2 at the ends of the one diagonal or main axis cut off square or transverse to said axis. Slits 3 are cut, having an obliquity with the main axis of the blank, leading from the points of juncture of the sides with the aforesaid squared ends 2 of the main axis and at their inner ends terminating in oval-shaped apertures 4: in the blank. Other slits, 5, are cut in a general reverse direction to the slits 3 and forming strips 6, the ends of which strips are cut off square. The intermediate piece Tbetween each pair of slits 5 has its vertex rounded, as shown at 8. By this means the blank is cut into a main portion 9 and wings '7, each wing containing apair of strips 6, the attached ends of which strips are adjacent to the ends of the wing, while the free ends are adjacent to the vertex 8 of the wing.

The blank is formed into the unit, as follows: It is first folded down at right angles at the ends 2 in the direction of the main axis of the blank, butfor a short distance only from said ends, the intermediate portion 11 being by said folds slightly curved transversely of said main axis, as shown in Figs. 3 and The free end of each strip 6 is then given a double curvature. First it is bent back toward the attached end of the strip, or about an axis in the plane of the strip, but transverse to its general direction. Then said bent end is twisted about an axis parallel to said general direction, so as to bring the under surface of the strip, which was brought uppermost by the first bend, against the adjacent side of the folded end of the main portion of the blank. The ends of the strips being now in juxtaposition with the folded ends of the main portion, said blank has now been folded to form a unit for ornamental purposes. Said ends of the main portion, together with the free ends of the strips adjacent thereto, are secured by any suitable unions. In the present instance they are shown as secured within sockets or recesses 12, formed in balls 13. Said ends are secured by cement or in any other preferred manner, the method of attaching the same forming no part of my invention. The balls thus form the means of uniting the several units together to make a grill for ornamental purposes. When so united, the parts joining the wings and the strips which in the blank were adjacent to the ends 2 of the main portion now form tongues 141, and the arrangement is such that the tongues of one unit overlap or interlace with the tongues of the adjacent units, as shown in Fig. 1, thus producing a diversity of contour. The tongues are thrown downward out of the plane of the blank when the free ends of the strips are bent upward out of said plane. The vertices 8 of the wings are thrown upward by the same operation.- Both of these curvatures are illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

The main principle embodied in my invention will be more readily apprehended by reference to Figs. 5 and 8, which illustrate the invention in its simplest form. Fig. 5 shows a blank 15 cut by slits 16 into a general N shape. In comparing this blank with the main figure either of the sides 17 may correspond to the main portion, the other side then corresponding to the strip and the intermediate part 18 to the wing. If the end ofja strip 18 be bent back on itself and placed over the end of the other strip withouttwisting, each juncture of the part 17 with a part 18 will be thrown out of the original plane of the N, one upward and one downward, as illustrated in Fig. 6. The material is then expanded in thickness or in a direction transverse to the plane of the blank. If in addition the ends of the strips be each given a twist to bring their other faces into contact, as shown in Fig. 7, then the parts of juncture between the intermediate part and the strips are thrown out sidewise in opposite directions. as well as upward and downward, and the material is expanded in width as well as in thickness. be held from bending, a corresponding increased flexure will be given to the remaining portion both as to width and thickness. In this case it will be observed that this expansion in width and thickness does not take place at the expense of the length. lieve to be a unique feature of my invention. Instead of cutting the blank as in Fig. 5 it may also be cut as in Fig. 8. In this figure one strip, 17 is located between the other strip, 17, and the wing 18. WVhile this form of blank is not in actual shape, that of an N in effect and function it is the same. Therefore the words N-shaped in the claims are not be parallel, as in Figs. 5 and 8, and it will be seen thatin the preferred form of the inventionthat of Figs. 1 and 2they are If one side of the N This I be-.

not parallel, but are oblique both to each other and to the main axis. The outer slit is at an angleof about forty-five degrees with the main axis and the inner slit is in an intermediate direction.

It will be seen that the material is expanded both in width and thickness and without reducing the length of the unit.

The construction provides the greatest variety of curved surfaces, thus producing the most eifective form of ornamentation for grillework. Each unit contains four curlsor twists, (shown at 19, where each strip is bent over from the part of the wing to which it is attached.

A further important advantage of this construction is that the units are attached together by means of the ends of the main portion, so that said main portion in each case withstands the strain of the weight of the material, and there is no tendency to tear the material on account of the weight of the portiere or grillework suspended below it, as where the units are attached along lines which pass through out edges adjacent to each other. Again, comparativelyfew raw edges for so large a variety of curvature are seen from the front, so that the design can be used with woven fabrics, as silk or cloth, and the.pattern shows in a broad and striking manner from a distance.

I claim 1. Ornamental sheet material having a wing, a strip extending from a free portion of the wing, the free end of the strip being bent back and given a quarter-twist, and secured in proximity to the material which was continguous to the free portion of the wing, substantially as described.

2. Ornamental sheet material having a wing, a strip extending from a free portion of the wing, the free end of the strip being bent back and given a twist and secured in proximity to the material which was contiguous to the free portion of the wing, substantially as described.

3. Ornamental sheet material having a wing connected with the main body of the material and extending alongside thereof before being bent, said wing having a second wing or strip connected with the first wing. but extending, before being bent in a general reverse direction to that in which the first wing extended from the main body, the free end of the strip or latter wing being bent back upon itself and attached to the main body, the part joining the two wings then forming an outwardlyextending tongue, substantially as described.

4. Ornamental sheet material having a wing connected with the main body of the material and extending alongside thereof before being bent, said wing having a second wing or strip connected with the first wing, but extending, before being bent, in a general reverse direction to that in which the first wing extended from the main body, the free end of the strip or latter wing being bent back upon itself then given a quarter-twist, and attached to the main body, the part joining the two wings then forming an outwaidly-extending tongue,

substantially as described.

5. Ornamental sheet material havinga wing connected with the main body of the material and extending alongside thereof before being bent, said wing havinga second wing or strip connected with the first wing, but extending, before being bent, in a general reverse direction to that in which the first wing extended from the main body, the free end of the strip or latter wing being bent back upon itself then given a twist and attached to the main body, the part joining the two wings then forming an outwardly-extending tongue, substantially as described.

6. Ornamental sheet material divided by a slit open at one end to the edge of the piece, the parts of the material adjacent to said open end of the slit being separated to opposite sides of the closed end of the slit, said parts being also given a partial relative twist, and said parts beingsuitably secured in their separated position, the portion of the material adjacent to the closed end of the slit then extending transversely to the straight line through the two parts of the material so separated and in a direction midway between the planes of the material at the two parts, substantially as described.

7. Ornamental sheet material comprisinga main portion, a wing extending from said main portion and having a free end, a'second wing or strip extending from the free end of the first wing in a reverse direction, the main portion of the material adjacent in the blank to the free end of the wing being folded down at right angles to itself, and the free end of the strip or second wing being bent back on itself and being given a quarter-twist and thus brought into parallelism with the foldeddown end of the main portion and being secured adjacent thereto, the point of connection between the strip and wing thus forming a tongue extending transversely to the main portion of the material to which said wing and strip are attached, substantially as described.

8. Ornamental sheet material comprisinga main portion, a wing extending laterally from said main portion midway of the ends, said wing comprising two parts each extending backward toward an end of the main portion, a strip extending in a reverse direction from the free end of each part of the wing, each strip being bent back on itself and its free end attached to the corresponding free end of the main portion, substantially as described.

9. Ornamental sheet material comprising a main portion, a wing extending laterally from said main portion midway of the ends, said wing comprising two parts each extending backward toward an end of the main portion, a strip extending in a reverse direction from the free end of each part of the wing, the free end of each strip being bent back on itself, the end of the main portion being folded back at right angles, and the free end of each strip being given a quarter-twist bringing it into parallelism with the folded-back portion of the corresponding end, and there secured to said end, substantially as described.

10. Ornamental sheet material comprising a main portion, wings, one extending from each side thereof, each wing having two parts extending obliquely backward toward the ends of the main portion, the ends of said parts having strips extendingfrom the free ends of said parts of the wing reversely to the direction of said parts, and the strips being bent back on themselves and their ends secured adjacent to the ends of the main portion, substantially as described.

11. Ornamental sheet material comprising a main portion, wings, one extending from each side thereof, each wing having two parts, extending obliquely backward toward the ends of the main portion, the ends of said parts having strips extending from the free ends of said parts of the wing reversely to the direction of said parts, and the strips being bent back on themselves the ends of the main portion being folded down on both sides at right angles to said main portion and the free ends of the strips being given a quarter-twist, and secured adjacent to said ends of the main portion, substantially as described.

12. Ornamental sheet material comprising a main portion having a main axis and having in the blank two slits extending obliquely to the main axis, the open end of one of the slits extending in a general reverse direction from that taken by the open end of the other slit, and the free ends being brought together and secured, thereby throwing the intermediate portions out of the plane of the blank, substantially as described.

13. Ornamental sheet material of a general N shape, the sides of the N, however, being oblique to each other, and the free ends of the N being brought together and secured, whereby the bends of the N are thrown in opposite directions out of the plane of the N, substantially as described.

14. Ornamental sheet material having a portion of a general N shape, the free ends of which are brought together, throwing the bends of the N in opposite directions out of their former plane, the material at one end of the N being given a twist when secured to the material at the other end of the N, substantially as described.

15. Ornamental sheet material having a portion of a general N shape, one free end of the N being carried over the intermediate part and connected to the other free end, whereby the ends of the interinediate part are thrown out of the plane of the blank in opposite directions, the material at one end of the N being given a twist when secured to the material at the other end of the N, substantially as described.

16. Ornamental sheet material of a general N shape, the sides of the N, however, being oblique to each other, and the free ends of the N being brought together and secured, whereby the bends of the N are thrown in opposite directions out of the plane of the N, the material at one end of the N being given a twist when secured to the material at the other end of the N, substantially as described.

17 Ornamental sheet material having a portionof a general N shape, one free end of the N being carried over the intermediate part and connected to the other free end, whereby the ends of the intermediate part are thrown out of the plane of the N in opposite directions, the material at each end of the N being given a quarter-twist when secured to the material at the other end of the N, whereby they are brought into parallelism with each other, substantially as described.

18. Ornamental sheet material of a general N shape, the sides of the N, however, being oblique to each other, and the free ends of the N being brought together and secured, whereby the bends of the N are thrown in opposite directions out of the plane of the N, the material at each end of the N being given a quarter-twist when secured to the material at the other end of the N, whereby they are brought into parallelism with each other, substantially .as described.

19. Ornamental sheet material comprising a main longitudinal portion, a lateral extension from the middle of each side of said longitudinal portion, reverse extensions from the end of each lateral extension toward the ends of the main portion, and stripsfrom the ends of said lateral extensions reverse to their di' rections and extending at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the main portion, the ends of said strips being bent back on themselves and attached to the ends of the main portion, substantially as described.

ends of said strips being bent back on themselves given a quarter-twist and attached to the ends of the main portion, substantially as described.

21. Ornamental sheet material comprising a main longitudinal portion, a lateral extension from the middle of each side of said longitudinal portion, reverse extensions from the end of each lateral extension toward the ends of the main portion, and strips from the ends of said lateral extensions reverse to their directions and extending at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the main portion, the ends of said strips being bent back on themselves, given a quarter-twist and attached to the ends of the main portion and the ends of the main portion being folded down at right angles, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS B. CHRISTOPHERSON. Witnesses:

FRANCES M. WRIGHT, BESSIE GORFINKEL. 

